Curtain-fixture.



J. BECKER.

CURTAIN FIXTURE.

APPLIOATION IILED APR. 8, 1913.

1,09 1,876. Patented Mar. 31, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. BECKER.

CURTAIN FIXTURE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, 1913. 1,09 1,876, Patented Mar. 31, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII co., WASHINGTON, D. C

JOSEPH BECKER, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

CURTAIN-FIXTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 31, 1914:.

Application filed April 8, 1913. Serial No. 759,749.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Josnrrr BECKER, cit1- zen of the United States, residing at Montclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, useful Improvements in CurtainFiXtures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in window shade holders and more particularly to adjustable holders for shades of the spring roller type, the object of the invention being the provision of a shade holder by means of which the roller, together with its shade, may be raised or lowered to any desired height in respect to the window casing.

In many instances in which the shades of the spring roller type are employed it is frequently impossible to open the window at the top on account of wind which, blowing through the window so opened against the shade, continually rattles the same about and oftentimes even tears the shade from the roller. Furthermore, in case of a storm, the wind or snow beating through the open upper portion of the window will ruin the shade.

The main object of this invention is therefore to adjustably mount the shade carrying roller in such a manner that it may be raised or lowered to the same extent as the window, or to any desired extent, to avoid these difliculties.

A further object of the invention is to provide an adjustable supporting mechanism for the roller whereby the roller may be raised or lowered by the proper manipulation of cords which hang from the mechanism within easy reach of any one desiring to adjust the shade, the mechanism supporting the shade, together with the cords, by which the shade is raised and lowered, being so arranged that when the shade is raised by pulling upon one cord it will be automatically locked in its uppermost position and in such a manner that when slightly raised by the other cord it will be automatically released to permit its being lowered.

In accomplishing the above objects I e1 ploy a pair of casings or housings which I secure to the window casing one upon either side of the window and which have their have invented certain new and opposed faces slotted to form guides for the roller. In this connection, a further object of the invention is the provision of bearing heads or caps which are slidably but non-rotatably mounted in the slots of the housings and which receive the bearing pins of the roller, the caps being so mounted about the ends of the roller as to provide bearings therefor and permit the free rotation of the roller. And a still further object of this invention is to so arrange the supporting mechanism and cords by which the roller is raised and lowered that no cords will be eX- tended across either the top or bottom of the window casing.

With these and other objects in View, this invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form a part of this application.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspec tive view of a conventional form of window casing and window, showing my improved shade holder applied thereto, the upper sash of the window being slightly lowered and the shade also being partially lowered; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of one of the shade roller supports removed from the Window casing, part of the housing being broken away to show certain details of construction; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal sec tional View of one end of the shade roller, showing the manner of attaching the bear ing cap thereto; Fig. 5 is a similar view of the opposite end of the roller; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the bearing caps or heads removed from the roller; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view, showing a somewhat modified form of housing construction.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

In order to insure a clear and full understanding of this invention the same has been shown in connection with a. conventional form of window casing 10 including the customary side facing strips 11 and 12 which also form the inner parting beads for the lower window shash 13, the upper window sash 14 being mounted in the usual manner between an outer parting bead 15 and an intermediate parting bead 16.. A shade 17 carried by a spring shade roller 18 is adjustably supported by its ends in roller supports, each indicated as a whole by the numeral 19, which are secured to the'inner faces of the facing strips 11 and 12 at the top of the window casing. The present invention consists in the construction of these shade supporting devices 19, the manner of mounting the shade roller in said devices and the means for adjustably raising andlowering the roller when so mounted. Each of these supporting devices includes a hous ing 20, preferably formed from a single piece of sheet metal having its longitudinal edges bent at right angles to the body portion to provide a face plate 21 and side walls 22 and 23, the side valls being connected at their ends by brace strips 24 and the upper ends of the side walls being cutaway slightly as at 25 for a reason which will be hereinafter explained. The face plate or front wall of each of the above described housings is provided with a vertically or longitudinally extending slot 26 which extends through a point adjacent the upper end of theface plateto the lower end of the plate and the upper end of which is provided with a rearwardly and down .wardly curved extension 27. These casings or housings are open at their ends and the upper end of the face plate and the upper brace 21 are provided with alined perforations 28 to receive a screw 29 by 'means of which the upper end of the casing may be secured to the facing strip of the window casing, while the lower brace 24: is provided with a perforation 30,'preferably in alinement with the lower portion of the slot 26, to receive a second screw whereby the lower end of the casing may be secured in place. The face plate of the casing and the braces 24: are connected and further braced togetlier by means of a pair of spaced pins 31 and 32 passing through the face plate and the upper brace and a similar pair of spaced pins 33 and 34 passed through the face plate and the lower brace, each of these pins being spaced a slight distance from the adjacent side wall of the casing. If desired, tubular sleeves 35 may be mounted at the intermediate portions of these pins to assist in holding the face plate and braces in proper spaced relation and also to form roller bearings for the adjusting cables, as will be hereinafter explained. As clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, one of these supporting devices is secured upon each side of the window casing and the shade roller is mounted and supported at its ends by these devices.

In order to adapt a shade roller of conventional type for use with this form of roller support the trunnion or pin at each end of the roller is provided with a bearing head, indicated as a whole by the numeral 36 which heads are movable in the slots 26 of the housings and which are held in engagement with. the trunnions of the roller by ferrules 37. More specifically each of these bearing heads includes a disk shaped head portion proper 38 and aneck portion 39 extending at right angles from the central portion of the head and provided: at its free end with a laterally directed encircling shoulder 40. This neck portion is either rectangular or elliptical'in'section to permit its free movement in the slot 26 and extension 27 of the slot while at the same time preventing any turning movement of the neck portion in the slot. The head properis preferably thickened orreinforced as shown at ll in the plane of the major axis of the neck 39 and provided with a bore d2 also in'the' plane of the major axis of the neck. The neck of each of these bearing heads is provided with a socket43 adapted to receive the trunnion of the adj acent end of the shade roller. As is well known, the trunnion or hearing pin at one end of the conventional. form of spring shade rolleris cylindrical and for this reason the socket provided in the neck of one of the bearing heads is merely a cylindrical socket to receive this trunnion, while the socket provided in the neck of the other bearing head is squared to receive the flattened spring connected trunnion 44: of the opposite end of the shade roller. The sock ets 4-3 are so proportioned as to space the shoulders 40 a slight distance from the ends of the roller and the ferrules 37 are provided at their outer ends with inwardly directed encircling shoulders 45 which engage over the outer faces of the shoulders 40 to hold the bearing heads in place, the inner ends of the ferrules beingprovided with instruck encircling beads'AG which bite into the wood of the roller to lock the ferrules against disengagement.

From the foregoing description of the bearing heads and the manner of applying the same to the roller, it will be apparent that the roller is free to rotate between the bearing heads but that in so doing the spring of the roller will be wound or flexed, as the case may be, in the same manner in which it would be if the shade roller was supported in the usual brackets employed for that purpose.

Adjusting cords 47 and 48 are secured by one end to each of the bearing heads, said ends being secured to the heads by passing the same through the bores 42 thereof and knotting their endsbelow the head. The opposite ends of these cords are extended upwardly about the pins 31 and 32, downwardly between said pins and adjacent walls 23 and 22 of the casing and between said walls and the pins 33 and 34, the lower ends of the cords extending to a point adjacent the lower portion of the window casing.

In originally installing the shade holder, the cords are threaded through the casing in such a manner that those ends which are later to be attached to the bearing heads extend below the lower end of the casing as well as the other ends and the casings are then fastened to the facing strips of the window casings, as previously described. The bearing heads are then mounted upon the trunnions of the shade roller and secured in place by the application of the ferrules 37. After this has been done, the inner ends of the cords 47 and 48 of the two supporting devices are passed through the bores of the corresponding bearing heads carried by the shade roller and knotted. The shade roller is then raised manually to position the necks 39 of the bearing heads in the lower ends of the slots 26 of the casings when the cables 48 are pulled to raise the bearing heads and shade roller to the upper end of the slots 26. As soon as the bearing heads have been so raised, said heads, together with the roller, will swing outwardly, due to the fact that they are supported by the cords 48 and a slight slacking of said cords will therefore seat the neck portions of the bearing heads in the extensions 27 of the slots to support the shade in its uppermost position.

The side walls 22 and 23 of the casings are provided With a plurality of alined perorations 49 to receive cotter pins 50 which act as supports for the bearing heads and consequently for the roller when the latter is lowered and also to prevent disengagement of the heads from the slots.

If desired, strips 51 of resilient metal may, after the shade has been once positioned, be forced upwardly into the lower ends of the casings between the operating cords and the front of the casings and sprung past the pins 33 and 34 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. When so positioned, the pins will prevent disengagement of the strips and the strips will form a resilient or cushioning support for limiting the downward movement of the shade.

it will be apparent that by proper adjustment of the pins 50 the downward movement of the shade may be limited to any desired extent and that if the shade is to be lowered the same amount at all times the pins,when once positioned, will serve to automatically stop the shade at the proper place.

The inner cords 48 are each provided at their free ends with weights 52, these weights not being heavy enough to in any way affect the raising of the shade, being merely intended as a means for keeping the cords 48 somewhat taut to prevent all likelihood of their becoming entangled with the cords 47 and to also keep the free ends of the cords somewhat separated and to serve as a distinctive mark by means of which the cords 47 and 48 may be readily recognized one from the other.

The slotted housings 20 may be made in any desired length and may in fact extend the entire length of the window casing, if preferred.

In Fig. 7 of the drawings I have illustrated a slightly modified form of shade support in construction in which the housings are closed at their backs by base plates 53 which are secured to the housings in any suitable manner as by screws 54 and which are provided with laterally directed, perforated ears 55 to receive screws 56. When this type of housing is employed the housings are secured to the inner faces of the window sash one upon either side of the facing stripsas shown in Fig. 7, this permitting the use of a somewhat wider shade than is possible with the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings.

In operation, assuming that the upper window sash and the shade are both in fully raised position and that the upper window sash is to be lowered, the person desiring to lower the same would first pull downwardly upon the cords 47 at each side of the window to raise the bearing heads of the shade roller out of the extensions 27 of the slots 26 and it will be apparent that this strain exerted upon the bearing heads by the cables 47 being applied at an angle from the forward portions of the casings will cause the bearing heads and roller, by gravity, to swing into alinement with the main body of the slot 26. The cords 47 may then be slackened to lower the shade to any desired point as predetermined by the positioning of the pins 50, after which the window may be lowered in the usual manner. \Vhen the shade is to be raised again, it will be raised by pulling downwardly upon the cords 48 and these cords being trained over pins adjacent the rear portions of the housings, will, when the roller is fully raised, cause the latter to swing by gravity to seat in the extensions 27 of the slots and so lock the same in raised position. It will therefore be apparent that the releasing and locking of the roller from its uppermost position is accomplished by the selective use of either the cables 47 or 48, as the case may be.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that an extremely efficient and con venient form of adjustable shade support is provided and one which may be readily operated by adjusting cords within easy reach of the operator and in which the ad justing cords do not extend across either the top or bottom of the window casing as is now so often the case.

It will of course be understood that although the above invention has been described in all its specific details and so illustrated minor changes in these details of construction may at any time be made, within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. Shade roller supporting means including slotted plates adapted to be secured to opposite portions of a window casing, bearing heads adapted for permanent attachment to the ends of a shade roller and slidably mounted in the slots of the plates, and means for raising said bearing heads.

2. In shade roller supporting means, the combination with a shade roller provided at one end with a cylindrical trunnion and at its opposite end with a flattened trunnion, of bearing heads, one provided with a cylindrical socket for engagement with the cylindrical trunnion and the other with a squared socket for engagement with the flattened trunnion, means carried by the roller and operatively engaging the heads to prevent their disengagement from the trunnions while leaving the roller free for rotation, and plates adapted for attachment to opposite portions of a window casing and provided with slots in which the heads are slidable.

.3. In shade roller supporting means, the combination with a shade roller provided at one end with a cylindrical trunnion and at its opposite end with a flattened trunnion, of bearing heads, one provided with a cylindrical socket for engagement with the cylindrical trunnion and the other with a squared socket for engagement with the flattened trunnion, means carried by the roller and operatively engaging the heads to pr vent their disengagement from the trunnions while leaving the roller free for rotation, and plates adapted for attachment to opposite portions of a window casing and provided with slots in which the heads are slidable, the portions of the heads extending through the slots being squared to prevent rotation of the heads in the slots.

4. In shade roller supporting means, the combination with a shade roller, of heads mounted upon the ends of the roller, casings adapted to be secured to opposite sides of a window casing and having their opposed faces provided with vertically extending slots in which the heads are slidably mounted, pulleys mounted upon the upper ends of the casings, and cords secured to the heads and passed upwardly about the pulleys and downwardly through and beyond the lower ends of the casings.

5. In shade roller supporting means, the combination with a shade roller, of heads mounted upon the ends of the roller, casings adapted to be secured to opposite sides heads and passed upwardly about the pulthrough and beyond casings, the opposed being provided with leys and downwardly the lower ends of the walls of each casing alined openings, and pins adapted forselective engagement in the openings to limit the downward movement of the heads.

6. In shade roller supporting means, the combination with a roller, of heads carried by the ends of the roller, slotted plates adapted to be secured to opposite sides of a window casing and with their slots proportioned to slidably receive the heads to-prevent turning of the latter, the upper ends of said slots being provided with rearwardly and downwardly directed extensions, and means for raising and lowering said heads.

7. Shade roller supporting means including a casing having a longitudinallyslotted face plate, one end of which is provided with a rearwardly and downwardly directed extension, a bearing member adapted to engage a roller trunnion and including a spaced head and shoulder connected by a squared neck slidable but non-rotatable in the slot, pulleysmounted in the upper end of the casing and above the same, and cords passed upwardly through the casing and. about the pulleys and secured by adjacent ends to the head.

8. Shade roller supporting means including a plate provided with a vertical slot, the upper end of which is extended laterally and downwardly, a shade roller engaging head mounted for sliding movement in the slot and held against rotation therein, pulleys carried by the upper end of the plate, one upon either side of the slot and above the same, and cords secured by one end to the head and passed upwardly about the pulleys and downwardly below the lower end of the plate.

9. Shade roller supporting means including a plate provided with a vertically eX- tending slot having an off-set upper end, a shade roller engaging head slidable in the slot but non-rotatable therein, and operating cords attached to the headand passed over pulleys carried by the plate, one of the cords being so arranged that the raising of the head to the upper end of the slot by actuating the same will swing the head into the lateral extension while the other cord is arranged to, under similar circumstances, swing the head into alinement with the body of the slot.

10. In shade roller supporting means, the combination with a shade roller provided at its ends with trunnions, of bearing heads one upon either side of the slot provided With sockets to seat the trunnio-ns, portions of a Window casing and provided laterally directed flanges formed on the bearwith slots in which the heads are slidable. 10 ing heads ferrules secured to the ends of the In testimony whereof I aflix my signature roller, laterally directed flanges formed upon in presence of two Witnesses.

the ferrules and seating over the flanges of JOSEPH BECKER. [11.5.] the bearing heads to swivelly mount the Witnesses: bearing heads upon the trunnions, and HARRY ROSENBERG, plates adapted for attachment to opposite SAMUEL N. ACKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

